Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

The events of a hundred years in Oklahoma will totally disgust you and leave you in a sort of shock. They are abhorrent beyond words. They will also be a source of fascination. The atrocities that the Osage people endured make you ask yourself: how could this happen in the United States? But there is inspiration, too, in the dedication of FBI agent Tom White and his team, who put their lives on the line and left no stone unturned in their investigations into the dozens of cold-blooded murders of the Osage by those seeking to steal their money. Makes you wonder what life's all about. The book was an historical work, well researched and documented, but it reads like a crime thriller. I blew through it, as it really drew me in. It leaves you with some questions unanswered, as the info available to the writer was limited after almost 100 years had passed. I recommend seeing Scorsese's movie (2023), too. Starring DiCaprio, DeNiro, and Lily Gladstone. The book is better, as books always are, but the film is good.

I buddy read this with my friend Ashley. When I first picked this up, I had no idea what it was about. My grandma said it was one of her "favorites", what I think she meant to say was it was one of the most powerful and heart wrenching reads. I picked it up thinking that I would learn more about the FBI. I've been watching Mind Hunter and reading about serial killers. This book is not about those things. Killers of the Flower Moon is a historic look at the Osage Murders that took place in Osage county, Oklahoma, during 1921-1926. But in reality the "Reign of Terror" lasted a lot longer and had more deceit and cover ups that I have ever heard of. Without proper evidence, we can not be sure if the "Reign of Terror" didn't start in 1918 and end in 1931. What the story does prove is that a lot of Native Americans, and when I say a lot, I mean in the hundreds, died at the hands of white men and women who coveted their headrights and wanted the black gold money for themselves. I spoke with my husband during the duration of this read and can not fathom the utter evil that some people are capable of. From a person that has never been greedy or gluttonous of others possessions its insane to me to murder someone to obtain their wealth. The fact that the Native Americans were considered "cruelty to animals" instead of murder is crazy talk! I was literally angry the entire time I read this. When I spoke to my grandma about this book ( she had asked me how I was "liking" it so far), I told her I was enraged. She said that she took a Native Americans course in college and after taking that class and reading this book she was embarrassed to be white. My grandmother's family came to the United States when Prussia was still a state of Germany. They crossed the midwest and settled in Southern California. My grandma was born in 1944, after this horrific time period. However, I have heard from her that my Great Grandpa was just as prejudiced against men "of color" as the next white man. He run my Grandpa off his property when my Grandpa asked for my Grandma's hand in marriage. My Grandpa is Hawaiian and Filipino. I can't believe the government, police, lawyers, judges, bankers, doctors, undertakers...everyone was in on this scheme to take from the Indians as much as they could. No one cared because Native Americans were less than. 100 year later in 2020 we are still having to fight for the rights of the underprivileged. It makes me sick to my stomach that as a nation we will never learn. We didn't learn about the massacres of the Black people or the Native Americans in school. All we learned is that Slavery existed and the Trail of Tears was terrible for the Indians. Why do our school cover up the truth of the past? Why even at 40 years old, do I not know more that happened in the country that I live in? I recommend this book because its a story that needs to be read, but be warned it is not a fun story to read. I did not get any joy out of reading this. I applaud David Grann for taking the time to research all of this and talk to the relatives of those slain during this time period. It was a lot of research with not that much gained. Most of the Native Americans murdered during this time frame were not recorded and no justice came of it. In Osage county the families of the fallen still grieve. There is no closure. And the government continues to bleed them dry.

This is a terrific read. Very compelling and thoroughly, exhaustively researched. David Grann does a truly masterful and heartfelt job of relaying this heartbreaking tale of murder, betrayal, and deceit. Grann has a unique and captivating way of telling this wrenching story of the Reign Of Terror on the Osage Indians to murder them and steal their 'headrights' on the massive mineral deposits (oil and gas) on their federal lands given them by the US government, finally in 1877. This came only after all the white immigrants and settlers had killed thousands of them, starved them, by disease, pushed them off, outright stole the bulk of all their other beautiful, lush, and rich lands, originally in what is now Kansas, Nebraska, and Arkansas, where their ancestors had lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. The US government broke one treaty after another until they were eventually moved to a portion of what is now Oklahoma. "Osage: (Ni-u-kon-ska), "People of the Middle Waters", is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along with other groups of its language family. They migrated west after the 17th century, settling near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, as a result of Iroquois invading the Ohio Valley in a search for new hunting grounds." - Wiki There were many more than the 24 innocent Osage murdered during the "Reign Of Terror" after oil was discovered on their Osage Reservation in 1906. Grann in his scrupulous research and interviews eventually discovers over 650 suspicious deaths, predominantly Osage tribal members, but also anyone white who attempted to help them or knew too much about the murderous gang of conspirators. Even after rich cattleman and Osage 'guardian', William K. Hale, his two nephews, Ernest, and Byron (aka Bryan) Burkhart, and their heinous fellow henchmen were finally proven guilty and locked up in Leavenworth from June 1926- June 1929, the murders and mysterious deaths went on, ignored, and uninvestigated by all local Oklahoma authorities. From sheriffs to mayors, judges, Representatives, Senators, governors, police, state and county officials, doctors, coroners, from the very rich and influential to the penniless down and outers, ruthless whites led and together participated in the entire travesty. The murders were carried out by various insidious means, be it shooting, blowing them up as they slept, beatings, countless chilling heartless methods, often by poison or morphine injections, and all by greedy whites time and time again. Their recurring method of marrying into the tribe was always only for one reason: to inherit their money. Unfortunately, it seems they never married for love. The betrayals are endless. I won't spoil it for you, but the disappointment over the lack of followthrough of the Oklahoma justice system left me disgusted. Let me know how you feel about Bryan Burkhart's marriage after you finish the book. It's a real shake your head, life can't get any stranger tale... or can it? It is my hope that one of my all-time favorite film directors, Martin Scorcese, and co-producer and exceptional actor, Leonardo DeCaprio, do justice to Mr. Grann's marvelous book in their upcoming film, but most of all I hope that they honor the Osage Nation, all their ancestors, and descendants that have suffered so deeply for generations of ominous, immeasurable, and callous cruelty. I find it both odious and telling that this story, the film based on Grann's book, the telling of mass murder and racial oppression, should come into the light on exactly the 100th anniversary of Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood Massacre. The final injustice would be if these shameful and outrageous events in our American history continued to be removed from our history books. That would be a national sacrilege. One of my favorite lines from Killers Of Flower Moon is a quote of the Osage descendant and retired teacher, Mary Webb. At the end of her interview with the author, she said, "This land is saturated in blood." Then, she repeated a quote when God cried out to Abel after he killed Cain "The blood cries out from the ground." Good book, highly recommend.

This is a book that is based on a true story of the Osage Native Americans in Oklahoma in the early 1920's when Oil was discovered on their land. At that time they were the richest people in the country. However, all of a sudden the tribe is having problems and not from the income, from deaths. White men want the rights to drill and they have to pay for them since the Osage in their treaty with the government retained any rights to minerals on the land, not that anyone thought there was any such at treaty time. The white men that wanted to drill hatched an idea, they decide to marry into the tribe, then kill off the families they've married into,inlcuding their own wives and children if necessary, so they can inherit the drilling rights without paying for them. It is the story of this time of the NA Osage Tribe and the beginning of the FBI. A time when there was no DNA, no Forensic specialists no good Law and Order so that many things were swept under the rug for a long time. Hoover is the new, young, head of the FBI at this time and he sends one of his top men (actually he fired him for using his own way to do things, then rehired him) out to investigate after several others fail to turn up anything useful, including the local authorities. This man in turn calls upon 5 or 6 men he knows are honest and closed mouth and can help with the job, go undercover, be accepted in the area. A Texas Ranger; a Cowboy, another Law Man, a part Native American, etc. They keep their investigation between themselves and Hoover only, they infiltrate the area as regular men, a cowboy, an oil rig worker, etc. They meet in secret and are never seen together, perhaps two will speak to each other but never the entire group. Between them they figure out what is going on and put a stop to it. However, what they don't discover is a whole other story that lies under the top soil of the Oil deaths. In the end you will find a chapter or two that explains what they missed and how it was uncovered a number of years later. This is a good true story, in dept, well written, characters are good. Deaths are not "blood and guts" written, just "body found here, shot in head, or poison believed, etc" no details that make you sick to read or that you would skip over.. It is a story that not many people know because much of it was covered up or not in "the news" at that time and what was, was just skimmed over. When you finish reading you'll wonder to yourself "How in the world could this have happened and more people not know about it". It is a good read and I recommend it to anyone interested in that era, the Oil Drilling or the Native American background.

The historical events chronicled here, like the Tulsa Massacre, are ones I never learned in school - but should have. The horrifying injustice inflicted on the Osage by the US government, which facilitated the murders of hundreds of Osage so whites could take control of their wealth, is stomach turning and infuriating. Easily five stars for shining a light on this horror. This book made me angry, very very angry. Unfortunately, this book is also a tedious slog to get through which diminishes the impact, and my rating. Like all Native Americans, the Osage were forced onto reservation land unwanted by white citizens. Except in this case, oil reserves were found under that land. The government stepped in to "help" the Osage manage their wealth via a system of white guardianship for Osage found to be incompetent. Naturally, very few Osage were found to be competent. Twenty-four Osage were murdered within a few years in what came to be known as a Reign of Terror. The birth of the FBI is tied into this, as solving the case gave credibility and respect to the bureau. Only, they didn't bother to actually solve, or even invwstigate, all the murders, which far exceeded 24. Sadly, this book is poorly written and dry as tinder for such an inflammatory subject. The author spends entire chapters detailing the childhood and background of agents, such as the lead Tom White, or other principals of the case, like Hale. Every chapter gets bogged down in unimportant minutia, while little is given to the Osage themselves and the "solving" case and trial is ramshod through in just a few chapters. The most important aspects of the story are left to the last quarter of the book, and written almost like an epilogue. The criminal conspiracy of Hale to steal the oil headrights of Lizzie's family was just the tip of the iceberg. The FBI simply stopped investigating after Hale, but the murder of Osage was systemic. Hundreds had been murdered, so their fortunes came under control of white guardians. Between 1907 and 1923, six-hundred and five Osage from the original roll of headrights died. This didn't count those who were descendants with headrights, and not actually listed. This material should have been first, or better yet, interwoven throughout the narrative. Instead, the atrocities done to the Osage take a backseat to the "birth of the FBI", and the white male agents who gloried in solving a case while the greater injustice continued unabated.

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann New York: Doubleday $28.95 - 339 pages “The whites have bunched us up down here in the backwoods, the roughest part of the United States, thinking ‘we will drive these Indians down to where there is a big pile of rock and put them there in that corner.’” Now that pile of rock has turned out to be worth millions of dollars; now everybody wants to get in here and get some of the money.” --Osage Chief Bacon Rind. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon is the fact that despite the author’s painstaking research, and his marvelous use of period photographs and documents, this factual account of historic events attending “The Osage Murders” contains the atmospheric suspense and tension that is normally associated with a classic murder mystery. In fact, Grann has written a murder mystery - One that asks who methodically killed hundreds of Osage Indians during a four-year reign of terror (1920-24). Osage history reveals the tragic details of how and why. Forced to move from Kansas to Oklahoma, the Osage tribe seemed to be destined to lives of abject poverty when they suddenly found itself catapulted into a world of excessive wealth. Oil is discovered on tribal land. Suddenly, every member of the tribe is potentially wealthy. In an attempt to control the chaos that ensued, the federal government created a document called a “headright” which gave each Osage household legal rights to the oil on their land. After a period of uncontrolled spending in which members of the Osage tribe acquired mansions and fleets of automobiles, the government attempted to control the excessive spending by establishing a “guardian system” which assigned a “legal guardian” to each Osage family. This “guardian” (usually a white banker, businessmen or “civic-minded citizen” was given the power to approve or deny all expenditures for the Osage tribal member (who had been judged to be “incompetent”) by the government. The system was badly flawed, and many of the guardians used their position to embezzle huge sums of money. In time, the guardian documents became bargaining chips in investing in business ventures. Hundreds of guardians used their position as a means of acting as a “middle-man” who would purchase items on behalf of Osage tribal members. The guardian would then sell the item to the Osage for an inflated price. For example, guardians could purchase automobiles on behalf of the Osage tribal member for $250 and then sell them to the Osage member that they represented for $2,500. As the wealth of the Osage grew, so did the schemes for exploiting the tribe. Hundreds of criminals were drawn to the region with schemes designed to acquire a portion of Osage wealth. Many of these new arrivals openly stated that they had come to Oklahoma “to marry an Osage squaw.” It was a method that frequently succeeded. However, some of these opportunists sought a more direct method: murder. Author Grann’s research discovers one individual, William Hale who had arranged for the murder of 24 members of the Osage tribe. By soliciting the help of associates, Hale became one of the wealthiest men in Oklahoma. The astonishing catalogue of slaughter is carried out by men willing to resort to any means to accomplish Hale’s goal. Dozens of victims were poisoned with tainted moonshine and corrupt medical personnel performed autopsies that listed “acute alcoholism” as the cause of death. Others were dispatched with a bullet to the back of the head or between the eyes and the victim’s body was found in his new car on a remote road. One family was killed by a dynamite blast that demolished their home. Often, Hale simply paid an assassin to kill a designated victim. Then, Hale would frequently hire a second assassin to kill the first. In those instances in which murderers were apprehended, Hale bribed juries and law officials and if all else failed, he simply paid another killer. Time and time again, government agents are assigned to investigate and in some instances, just as they uncover significant evidence, they are murdered and the evidence destroyed. One dedicated investigator called the FBI headquarters to report that he was on his way back with conclusive evidence against Hale. The next day his mutilated body is found near a railroad track. He had been murdered and thrown from the train. Another investigator’s body was found in another state, hundreds of miles away. What is most disquieting about the crimes in Killers of the Flower Moon is the awesome extent of corruption that is revealed in the book. State and government officials, medical personnel and lawyers - all are contaminated with the vice of greed. The corruption is so pervasive, the few moral and courageous individuals seem helplessly outnumbered. However, there are two remarkable people in this gruesome tale. One is Molly Burkhart, and Osage who survived the systematic murder of her family...murders in which her husband was implicated. Molly was diagnosed as a diabetic by two doctors who poisoned her insulin injections, in an attempt to slowly kill her. Molly survived and divorced her husband. The second remarkable character is Tom White, the FBI agent that pursued Hale until he brought him to justice. Much of the credit of for this amazing piece of investigative work went to the Director of the newly-created FBI agency, Hubert Hoover who turned out to be a man dedicated to his own self-interest. Through much of the investigation conducted by Tom White, Hoover managed to take credit for White’s courageous work. Jealous of any publicity directed toward agents other than himself, Hoover invariably succeeded in manipulating the factual data to his advantage. This is a remarkable work. Most noteworthy is Grann’s comprehensive account of the primitive nature of investigations in a time before forensics emerged. As a consequence, much of Tom White’s heroic pursuit of a villain who seemed to have the protection of most of Oklahoma’s judges, lawyers and public officials. However, Grann’s greatest achievement is the fact that he uncovers evidence that the total number of victims in the Osage murders exceeded the original 24 and possibly exceeded over 200.

I ordered this book when I saw a deal on Amazon, plus I knew it had been made into a movie, though I had not seen it yet. The thing that intrigued me was not only the subject matter, but the location. My grandmother was born in Hominy, Oklahoma in 1898. She moved north while a teenager (around 1914) and settled in central Oregon, where she married. She did not live in Hominy during the reign of terror noted in this book. But I always found it fascinating that she was born on a reservation and yet, there is no Native blood in my veins. I remember her telling me that her family moved north in a covered wagon. Not everyone had cars in those days. She also told me that sometimes she would be teased and called a squaw. That's very interesting since I don't have Osage or Cherokee blood or a tribal affiliation of any kind. Since my grandmother died in 1996 at the ripe old age of 98 1/2 I will never know as my father also died in 2011. He knew precious little information when I asked him in the late 1990s about his mother's Hominy upbringing. That said, I found myself saddened when reading about what the people went through and how they were exploited and killed for their head rights. This place where my grandmother called home for most of her childhood was not a safe place for the Osage. I also find it interesting that the family moved away in the middle of the boom. But I will never know why. I do know they could not have been wealthy if they did not own a car. At any rate, I enjoyed reading this book. It sort of read like a novel and at the same time it reads like a non-fiction fact-based book drawn from trials, newspaper clippings and manuscripts. I did find it quite illuminating how deep the corruption went in those days and how rare it was to find an honest white person among the native people. Most were unscrupulous, it seemed, at least those related to murdered Osage tribal members with head rights. Prior to the murders they were a happy people despite being moved to a reservation and nearly starved to death by our government. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history. It will be especially enjoyed by amateur sleuths who want to find out more about the origin of the FBI and how the Osage Murders created the need for a national investigative agency that is still in operation today. The history of this country is littered with many stories like this. I am glad someone took the time to carefully research documents that are the basis for this book.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI This Book was suggested to me by Amazon. It happen to hit upon a subject in which I am trying to learn more about, The Osage Indian. I live in a part of Arkansas which was once part of the Great Osage Nation. We still occasionally find Indian artifacts which may or may not have been made by the Osage. I have tried reading more about them but most of what I had learned is limited to they once lived here. In the early 1800's the government moved them to Kansas and like all other Native Americans were placed on a reservation. Now comes this fantastic book by David Grann. Having received this book with no prior knowledge one only gambles. However, I couldn't put it down and I can't stop thinking about it. The author in my opinion told the story with a great deal of empathy for the Osage People and with a great deal of respect in reference to Tom White, former Texas lawman to FBI agent for purposes of this story. The story takes place in the early 1920's with a view of an Osage Nation through great leadership had chosen to purchase land in Oklahoma. The land was suggested to be so poor and worthless that no white man would want it. How wrong could they have been but how smart they were in the purchase. With the help of John Palmer an native american lawyer I have read about before, they were able to purchase the land thus having a deed and no longer dependent on government granted reservation land. Then Oil is discovered and of course the white man comes knocking on the door in attempt to gain access to the black gold below the surface. John Palmer however had gone a step further and as the author suggests was able to sneak in language whereby the tribe withheld all mineral rights. Clearly, this stumped all land grabbers who had made an art of obtaining valuable tribal land from various tribes throughout history. But wait, the story now begins because others with no particular thought as to the Osage people even being human, make their land grab and this is the story so artfully told by Mr. Grann. I cannot recommend this book enough. Here is a tribe that has done everything legally right but yet they were disappearing. Most people knew what was going on and why, but these people were also the culprits which made it almost impossible for the FBI to trust any information they obtained. J. Edgar Hoover was new in his job at this time and he was looking for just the right cases to help him argue for a National Police. This was one of the first cases that helped move them to the very respected FBI. Oddly the term "most people" referenced above, still fits because as the story develops, the reader is shocked by the cruelty and total disregard for human life over the almighty dollar and these atrocities were being orchestrated by the very people who were chosen to look out for them. Go get it read it and enjoy!!!! I recently watched Mr. Grann being interviewed on television. There is discussion he stated, where big name movie directors, producers, et cetera are wanting to make a movie out of this book. Well, it will be interesting to see, but rest assured, no movie will be as good as this book.

I have not heard about the Osage nation nor the atrocious crimes committed against them before I read this excellent work of researching and storytelling by David Grann. Hence, as I proceeded page after page, I was utterly enthralled by the sinister nature of the conspiracy that took place in the Osage County (if I had not read this, I would probably think the so told story was a work of fiction). This book is an outstanding reminder of the violence, corruption and greed directed to the indigenous people and that hitherto affects the life of its descendants. It is also a nice portrait of the United States in the 20th century, as well as the FBI birth and the oil boom.

Appena terminato ho inviato una mail di apprezzamento as sig. Grann che, con mio grande piacere, mi ha risposto ringrazianfomi. Grande sctittore, grande e triste storia egregiamente raccontata. Ora non mi resta che andare al cinema a vedere il film.

Can’t wait to see the movie

Recomendable 100%; narra hechos reales, la historia está muy bien escrita y es muy impactante. Se aprende mucho sobre la comunidad indígena de EE.UU. y la especulación alrededor del petróleo. Otro mundo

Exceptional account of a truly extraordinary sequence of events. A factual tale of greed and redemption. Another winner from David Grann and highly recommended